Fall is in full swing, isn’t it? With that, comes the advent of the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. I love the anticipation of seeing family and friends: seeing the joy light up my children’s faces on Christmas morning and sweet hugs from my grandmother, so far away during the year…

I am blogging for Hope today. To continue reading this post, click on over to Hope for Women.

They don’t allow you to take pictures of the crown jewels, but trust me on this…Oh. My. Word.

They were pretty breathtaking. You could feed an entire country on the Star of Africa alone. It’s a 530 carat diamond. You should look it up.

We toured the Tower of London today and I took A LOT of pictures, partly because we will be covering most of this in history throughout the year and I want Noah to see the real thing. Here are a few of my favorites:

Where the crown jewels are kept

The history in this place is so rich that it’s hard to absorb everything, and time is limited because there is so much to see and do in such a short period.

After walking the Tower all morning and learning how to ride the Tube (which is different from the train FYI), we decided to do some shopping. We sort of took a detour (because we were so hungry we couldn’t think straight) and ended up in Soho which was really cool and fun. Afterwards we walked through Piccadilly and towards St. James Park so we could see Buckingham Palace. That’s a lot of walking, friends.

St. James Park

At the gate

Buckingham Palace

Tomorrow we head to Bath. I can’t wait!

See you, then. 🙂

On a another note, I’m blogging over at Hope for Women today if you want to stop by.

There’s so much going on around here, friends, that I’m hanging on by thread… To say that we are looking forward to the beginning of school (so that life will slow down) would be a complete understatement. I’ve let the blogging (on this site) slide so that I keep up with life around here. So, today I’m joining Meredith with 10 on the 10th: Catching up

Summer is the busy season in youth ministry. The students are out of school and camp, Six Flags, and summer concerts all seem to come calling at the same time. We love it, but we’re always ready for fall. This weekend is our last big event before school starts back.

One great thing about this weekend is that I get see family and some very dear friends. Ministry is hard and we get moved away from those we love but the blessing is that sometimes God knits our hearts together with people when we least expect Him to.

My favorite boy turns 11 in less than a week and is about to start the 6th grade. That means next year he will be in our youth group…Yikes…

We went to Old Navy yesterday because of the $10 jean sale and my daughter wanted a pair of skinny jeans. She’s seven. How does she even know what those are? Apparently, at Old Navy skinny is the new slim so that’s what we have to buy to get them to fit her, but still…

Speaking of jeans, I have yet to find the perfect pair for me. I don’t think they exist. Anyone have suggestions? Random, I know.

I’m Blogging for Hope. I would love for you to check it out. My article will be posted on the 18th, I think.

We have four months until December and I’ve officially started my Christmas planning list. I know, it’s early but I have to plan now or it just does not get done.

In September I will be taking a little trip with my aunt and staying here. Words can’t express how excited I am.

My husband bought me an Ipod and filled it with music and podcasts to help me stay focused while I jog. Did you catch that??? I’ve started jogging! It’s just a couple of times a week but that’s the first step, right?

I’m driving places. I even drove Chris around on Sunday. Those that know me understand what a big deal this is…